[Reedx]

Strongly agree, though if you find yourself in that situation there are ways you can turn it into productive time. Especially if you otherwise don't have blocks of alone downtime.

- Use the time to think. Driving the same commute every day becomes automatic and you can solve problems, practice a talk, iterate or come up with ideas and so on. Take notes via voice.

- Podcasts. There's an endless amount of learning available. Some recommendations: 99% Invisible, Making Sense, Hardcore History, Freakonomics, Business Wars, Planet Money.

- Audiobooks.

Make it a habit and you can actually get to the point where your commute is almost painless and even something to look forward to (particularly if it's the only place you listen to podcasts/audiobooks). Sometimes I actually end up waiting in the car extra time for a Podcast to finish or to clean up notes.

[shostack]

Audiobooks have been my savior since I switched to them from podcasts.

I'm making my way through a backlog of must read sci-fi and fantasy classics I never would have read otherwise because I have little time to read a book as it is.

I have to wait a bit and have a somewhat limited selection with my library card, but overall it's worth it.

[joeconway]

You should try Scribd.com for audiobooks (disclaimer: I work there)

[shostack]

Thanks for the suggestion. Not really looking to add another subscription to the budget at the moment though.